Royal Bank of Canada buys wealth manager Brewin Dolphin for £1.6bn

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has made an agreed £1.6billion all-cash offer for British wealth manager Brewin Dolphin.

Brewin shareholders will be offered 515p per share, representing a 62 per cent premium on Wednesday’s closing price of 318p. 

That values Brewin Dolphin at 2.8 per cent of its £55 billion in assets under management as of 28 February.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has made an agreed £1.6 billion all cash offer for British wealth manager Brewin Dolphin 

Directors of Brewin Dolphin have given unanimous backing for the deal, which is expected to complete at the end of the third quarter of this year.

Commenting on the acquisition David Thomas, CEO of RBC Capital Markets Europe, said: ‘The UK is a key growth market for RBC, and Brewin Dolphin provides us with an exceptional platform to significantly transform our wealth management business in the region.

‘Both management teams are excited by a shared vision of high quality client service, client-centric culture and the exceptional growth opportunities that we can deliver together.’ 

Thomas highlighted that the combination would make RBC Wealth Management the third biggest wealth manager in Britain and Ireland, as well as a market leader in Canada and with a growing position in the US.

Directors of Brewin Dolphin (headquarters pictured) have given unanimous backing for the deal

‘The Brewin Dolphin Board is pleased to recommend the offer by RBC in the interests of our shareholders, our clients, our people and our business partners,’ said Brewin Dolphin CEO Robin Beer.

On news of the buyout offer, Brewin Dolphin shares surged 61 per cent on Thursday to hit a record high. 

Last November, the firm revealed it had attracted record discretionary fund inflows of £4billion in the year to 30 September, with income of more than £400million.

Income growth was driven by a significant surge in fees from private clients, expanding demand for financial advisory services 1762 and wealth core, and a £1billion increase in discretionary net flows.

Brewin Dolphin also noted the strong performance by its Irish division, which saw total fund growth of £800million and a 30 per cent jump in income on the back of Brexit-related transfers and a one-off corporate transaction in the third quarter.

British investment firms have benefited heavily from gaining hundreds of thousands of new customers during the pandemic, many of whom were young and trying investing for the first time.

AJ Bell’s results for the 2021 fiscal year showed it attracted 87,000 more customers to its platform, while Hargreaves Lansdown added another 233,000 clients.  

Both firms noted that trading activity has slowed down as restrictions have loosened, but are confident they will continue to do well out of long-term changes affecting the investment sector.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk